Trader Joe’s stores have brought back the company’s beloved free samples after a yearslong hiatus due to the pandemic.
In the company’s podcast released Monday, hosts shared that “demo is back,” the term the California-based grocery chain uses to describe its in-store offerings for shoppers to taste its often rotating and seasonal inventory.
“It hasn’t been possible to offer a lot of product samples in our stores over the past few years, but we are bringing it back with a new approach,” Tara Miller, Trader Joe’s director of words and phrases and clauses, said in the podcast. Her co-host said that would mean a greater focus on new products.
But Trader Joe’s fanatics and shoppers beat the company to its audio announcement this weekend, sharing their excitement for the return of samples on social media, getting a taste of granola, sweet potato pasta salad, pumpkin cookies and gummy bears at stores across the United States starting Saturday.